King George could be tailor-made for this 20-1 shot - so give him a crack at it, Gordon

After the Greatwood at Cheltenham on Sunday, there was talk of the winner Burdett Road being good enough for the Champion Hurdle, for which he is a best-priced 33-1, so let us look at the evidence.

On the plus side, he’s a very decent Flat horse. And that’s it. The full counter-argument would take up this entire column but suffice to say that winning a handicap by half a length (albeit a decent one) doesn’t scream the best two-miler in the land. 

Indeed, Harry Cobden, as is often the case, rode the perfect race on Sunday. He started quickly, slowed things up in front after jumping the second hurdle, and then gradually ramped up the pace from the second-last. I was more taken by the runner-up Be Aware, who came from some way off the pace in a race that wasn’t run to suit those who had been held up.